Establishment of Miscanthus Rhizomes in Mediterranean Environment

The triploid hybrid Miscanthus x giganteus Greef et Deu is one of the most studied species dedicated for lignocellulosic biomass production with bioenergy aims. The Miscanthus crop is established by planting mechanically divided rhizomes or plantlets micropropagated in tissue culture. A field experiment research was carried out during 2011-2012 years in Sicily (Southern Italy) to evaluate the ability of rhizomes to establish new Miscanthus plantings in relation to the presence of only nodal buds initials (dormant buds) or terminal buds (new shoots). For this purpose four treatments were evaluated: rhizome cuttings with 3 ready terminal buds to shoot (T1), 1 ready terminal bud to shoot (T2), pieces 10 cm long with nodal buds initials (dormant buds) (T3) and 5 cm long with nodal buds initials (dormant buds) (T4). The rhizome planting was carried out manually on May 18th 2011. The research pointed out that rhizome size can lead Miscanthus x giganteus to a best performance in the year of planting. The rhizome with more weight led to, in the case of rhizome cuttings with ready terminal buds to shoot (T1), a higher shoots performance and aboveground biomass production; in the case of pieces 10 cm long with only dormant buds (T3), a higher rhizome development.
Proceedings of the 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 3-7 June 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp. 330-333